


Back Home

by WintersCaptain



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: AU where scratch takes literal years and years to kill, Dad!Hotch, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Post-Mr Scratch, a veritable gaggle of Hotchners, there are kids!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:22:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23723041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WintersCaptain/pseuds/WintersCaptain
Summary: After going into witness protection, you and Hotch make life work with new identities. What happens when Scratch is dead and you can come home to the BAU?
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner & Spencer Reid, Aaron Hotchner/Reader, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau & Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 123





	Back Home

**Author's Note:**

> Y/N - Your Name  
> Y/N/N - Your New Name (Witness Protection)

You work in the garden, your hair pushed up out of your face. It’s sunny outside, and Aaron had offered to take the kids into the backyard for the afternoon, while you worked and weeded in the front.

It was nice, to get away for a moment. Jack was getting older and was immensely helpful with the children. He’d adapted remarkably well to witness protection, to becoming John “Jack” Montgomery, son of David and Y/N/N Montgomery.

Mr. Scratch had shattered the safety of Aaron’s home and family. When he told you he had to go, you went with him. The BAU didn’t know of your budding relationship, but there was no way you would let him disappear without you. You’d gone into protection together, working for the same company and letting your love for each other grow through your new identities.

At first, you called each other by your real names when you were alone, but at a certain point, you decided it was safer to make the switch.

When it came time to choose baby names for your son, and later the twins, you and Aaron managed to find something that worked with both Montgomery and Hotchner, holding onto the hope that one day you would be able to return home.

You managed, also, to fit your family into the lives of your children. Your first son’s middle name was Spencer, your daughters’ Emily and Haley. Once, Aaron teased you about having another girl for JJ and two more boys for David and Derek, but you only kissed him and replied “Not a chance in hell.”

Jack slipped perfectly into the role of the older brother. Having twelve and fourteen years on his siblings, respectively, he was able to actively participate in raising them. The girls were just over a year, toddling around on unsteady legs and crawling faster than the speed of light. Your son was nearly three, always ready with a laugh. Nobody made him laugh like Aaron, who had a renewed energy and lightness with the new additions.

You hear the front door open and shut, and Aaron’s familiar footsteps on the flagstone path to the garden. You look up at him, and he surprises you, hauling you to your feet by the shoulders and pressing you into a searing kiss.

You lean away from him, removing your gloves and holding his face in your hands. His eyes are closed, his mouth tight. You brush that stubborn section of hair off his forehead with your left hand, your stacked engagement and wedding rings glinting in the sunlight.

“What is it?”

He looks at you, pulling your hands from his face and holding them to his chest. “We get to go home.”

You nearly collapse where you stand. “Are you sure?”

He nods. “Scratch is dead. Emily pulled some strings and called me. We can go back home.”

You throw yourself into his arms, and he crushes you to him.

+++

When you leave the plane, you pop the stroller open and immediately deposit the twins into their seats, strapping them in. Aaron has your boy on his hip, helping Jack with one of the bags. You had all packed for a week or two at most, hoping you would be able to get the rest of your things packed and shipped.

You have no idea what Aaron and Emily discussed over the phone – whether she knows to expect six Hotchners, instead of three.

Emily sees you, and your world stops. You abandon the stroller, swear you can hear a laugh from Aaron as he takes over the steering, and hug Emily tighter than you ever had. You were certain you’d never see her again. You couldn’t even say goodbye.

“I missed you so much.” She releases you, hands fluttering as if to check for injuries.

Emily has her share of grey hair now, much like Aaron at the temples, and you know you’d aged too. Three kids and life on the run would do that.

Aaron reaches you both, and Emily wraps him in his arms, taking your son into her embrace.

They speak to each other in hushed tones for a moment before they step away.

“You have to catch me up,” she says. “There are at least three more of you than last time if I’m counting right.”

You laugh and gather the things to pile into the (thankfully large) car.

Emily gives you and Aaron your documents – everything you left behind when you went into protection. You give her the kids’ names and information, so they can create their documents as well. It was a fresh start, but at the same time, a return to the life you missed so much. The only difference now? You’re a Hotchner, too.

When you pull up to the federal building, you gather the twins in your arms, and Jack runs ahead of you with Emily, racing him. Aaron takes your little son by the hand and brings up the rear.

The elevator ride up to the BAU offices is quiet, everyone practically vibrating with anticipation.

Emily breaks the silence. “I called them all in as if for a case briefing. It’s a surprise.”

You send the kids in first, Jack holding on to the tiny hands of the girls with your son keeping up behind them.

“Who’s this?” JJ’s clear voice rings out as she kneels and reaches for one of the girls, brushing her hair back from her tiny forehead. You see her pause, looking up at the boy who brought them with a sudden spark of recognition. “Jack!”

Before anyone else can react, you and Aaron are in the doorway. In his trademarked deadpan, without missing a beat, he says, “That would be Isaac Spencer, Sophia Haley, and Caroline Emily.”

You can’t hold back your smile as JJ immediately wells up, brushing her hands across the faces of all four children before running straight to Aaron. When she reaches him, a gigawatt smile breaks out across his face and he crushes her to him. Their friendship was one you envied at first, but you grew to understand the secret language they seemed to speak, the trust they had in each other. As JJ grew to be one of your closest friends, you cherished her friendship with Aaron. He needed it.

It suddenly becomes difficult to breathe as Morgan picks you up and spins you in a circle.

Jack is busy with Garcia, having his hair mussed and his cheeks pinched as he introduces them to his little brother and sisters. It’s hard to follow, but the joy is palpable.

“I would have named another one after you but after three I was just about tapped out,” you say to Derek. 

He laughs into your ear, only holding you tighter. “They’re perfect, mama. Absolutely perfect.”

JJ laughs a loud, watery laugh as Aaron probably tells her the same thing. JJ grabs a shocked frozen Spencer by the sleeve and yanks him into the circle of her arms and Aaron’s.

You can hear him ask, "You named your son after me?" 

"Who else?" Aaron replies. 

You smile into Derek's shoulder and let him go, looking around at the family you'd missed so much. 

David hangs back, approaching you last and kissing you on both cheeks. You felt collected before, but now, as Rossi looks at you with the kind and proud eyes of a relieved father, your eyes mist and you gather him into your arms.

+++

When everything quiets down, the gravity of it all settles on you all. Your family was intact once more.

JJ has Sophia on her hip, Sophia’s head tucked under her chin and her brown eyes fluttering closed. Spencer had pulled out a deck of cards and was now sorting them with a focused Isaac. You see the familiar crease in his little forehead, and look to your husband, finding the same one between his brows as he talks to Prentiss. David has Caroline in one of the rolling chairs around the conference table, rocking slowly back and forth as she snoozes across his chest.

Jack had returned to your side once he saw everyone. He grows taller and taller by the day, and very nearly reaches your shoulder – more a young man than a boy. The other day, he grinned at you and you could swear you were looking at Aaron, just thirty years younger. His eyes were all Haley, and you loved them so much.

He tucks his head under your arm and you wrap your arms around his shoulders. You press a kiss into his darkening hair. Your son.

You watch your family with your children, and a great weight lifts from you. They’re safe. You’re safe. Aaron is safe.

A pair of hands find your waist, winding around your middle and pulling you flush to a strong chest. You lean into Aaron as he kisses your temple.

“Emily’s set you up with a job in linguistics and has a spot for me in the legal department. Normal hours, home for dinner every night.”

You hum. “That would be nice.”

“Welcome home,” he says. For the first time in years, he’s right. You’re home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, and I would love to hear your feedback. This is my first foray into reader-insert work, and I am excited to do more!
> 
> My Tumblr is @winterscaptain, and I am taking requests here and there. If you have anything you would like to see from Criminal Minds or otherwise, drop me a line.
> 
> Kudos to anyone who catches the glaring Dharma and Greg reference in here. 
> 
> xo,  
> Tali


End file.
